While it’s certainly not the first allegation of cannibalism to come from North Korea, it’s equally as disturbing as those that*preceded*it. Troubling reports of a rise in starvation — and cannibalism — have emerged inside of a nation that continues to be*intensely-secretive and shut off from the wider global community.*According to an independent outlet called Asia Press, North Koreans are so desperate that they are increasingly turning to corpses and even murdering their own children for food.

One man allegedly dug up his grandchild’s corpse and ate it. Another purportedly killed and boiled his child for food. Of late, yet another individual has reportedly been executed for killing two of his children for the same purposes.

“In my village in May a man who killed his own two children and tried to eat them was executed by a firing squad,” one informant said of the latter incident.

According to the source, the father killed his daughter while his wife was away on business. Then, he killed the son because the latter child had witnessed his sister’s murder. When the wife came back from her trip, her husband said that they now had “meat.” After*becoming*suspicious, she contacted authorities who later discovered*parts of the children’s bodies.